Various Kenyan stakeholders are all the rage over a university education funding model set to take effect with the commencement of the new academic calendar in September.
The learners, their parents, the university dons and even sections of the government seem to be opposed to the model that categorises university and college students into five bands, based on factors like economic background and socio-demographic conditions.
The new framework replaces the Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC) that the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) has used to award student loans for over 25 years. The new model uses the Means Testing Instrument (MTI) to determine the appropriate financial assistance each learner deserves.
Besides family income and parents’ background, the tool looks at the family size and composition, expenditure on medical bills, course type, gender, and number of siblings still in school; whether one is from a marginalised community and type of school, they attended.
It delinks placement from the funding and emphasises a student’s financial need. The proponents of the model reckon that it allocates financial aid more effectively based on student’s level of need.
Band One is the neediest group, coming from families with a$47 maximum monthly income. Those considered in this group are entitled to 70 per cent of the fees scholarship, with a 25 percent loan, amounting to 95 percent total. The family in the category will pay 5 per cent of the fees and the student will receive $469 upkeep loan from Helb.
Band Two comprises families with incomes between $46 and $185. The government scholarship for the category is 60 percent, with a 30 percent loan. The family in the category pays 10 per cent of the fees and the student receives a $430 upkeep loan.
Band Three comprises families with above $182 and a maximum of $548 income. Here, the state scholarship covers 50 per cent, with 20 percent student upkeep of $390.
Families whose income is above $548 to a maximum of $938, fall in Band Four. Here, the government scholarship will cover a 40 percent fee with a 30 per cent loan, with the former paying 30 per cent of the fees. Band Five has families that earn more than $922. They will pay 30 per cent of fees.
As of August 23, the government had processed 127,591 student loan applications and categorised them under the five bands. However, coming fast and furious were complaints by the prospective beneficiaries over being placed in the wrong bands.
By August 23, at least 12,598 students had lodged complaints and sought to be placed in different categories. The stakeholders were faulting the criteria used by the government to determine which band each family would fall under.
Education Cabinet Secretary Migos Ogamba said the processing of the appeals had started and would be concluded within three weeks from the date of each appeal. He said the portal for the applications and the appeals would remain open until December 31, 2024, to allow for late appeals.
Many, including Chief Justice Martha Koome, have faulted the methodology, saying it risked locking out thousands of deserving candidates out of university education while giving more support to the undeserving. Some university dons say the model should have been piloted before rollout.
The University of Nairobi (UoN) students, in particular, have strongly opposed the new funding model and vowed to stop its implementation.
They on Saturday began protests against it, as well as against the disappearance of their leader, The University of Nairobi Students Association (UNSA) President, Madzao Rocha is believed to have been abducted by the police for opposing the controversial funding model. Mr Rocha reportedly went missing after leading his colleagues in issuing a press statement on their position.
The latest model is part of the continuous response to the financial crises that have plagued Kenya’s contemporary higher education sector. The continuing decline in government support for post-secondary education has seen the institutions amass an estimated $469 million in debt.
The genesis of the crisis can be traced to the mid-1990s neo-liberal reforms, prescribed by the IMF and the World Bank, whose emphasis was privatization under the structural adjustment programmes (SAPs).
It is no no-brainer that for as long as the government does not address the core problem of additional support to the public universities, the crisis will persist. Indeed, the UoN students have vowed to bring the city to a standstill from September 26, should the government not rescind the model.
Coming at a time the primary and secondary school teachers have also resolved to strike over an unfulfilled Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the entire Kenyan education could be headed for a major crisis.
What is going on in the education sector could add fuel to the fire given that the country is currently on tenterhooks over many other issues such as the controversial Finance Bill 2024, the delayed payment and employment of doctors and teachers, corruption and arbitrary policies that do not undergo public participation as per the constitution.
Charles Omondi is a veteran journalist and a PhD Student, currently teaching part-time at one of Kenya’s universities. Contacts; Comondi67@gmail.com
